Integrated learning does not just relate to schools and education; it relates to everything that happens where language can and is used, for example work on country, government consultations, oral history—anything you can think of.

Exposure to language at a young age, or complete immersive exposure at any age, is a very effective means to learn a language. This is referred to as naturalistic language acquisition. It is how every human learns their first language(s). In the past the educational and linguistic approach of analysing Aboriginal languages to create grammars and dictionaries and taking parts of the language into the Western classroom has led to language being separated from the foundation of Teaching On Country. This diagram below captures the tension between two the two different knowledge systems. The boxes on the right hand side show the way Western academia and education place knowledge into fields of study. In contrast, Aboriginal knowledge is seen as holistic, meaning all areas of learning and knowledge are interconnected.